A Mexico candy bar contains toxic levels of lead and people should avoid eating it, state officials warned.

Chaca Chaca is made from apple pulp and chili powder and comes wrapped in red and white cellophane. The name comes from the sound a train makes on the tracks, and a train is depicted on the wrapper.

The state Department of Health Services alerted consumers Thursday. Lead could harm the nervous system and kidneys, said state epidemiologist Dr. Gilberto Chavez. Lead poisoning can also cause learning disabilities and behavioral disorders.

Chaca Chaca was tested by the state food and drug branch in June and August 2002. Those tests found the candy bar contained three to four times the lead level allowed by FDA (news - web sites) guidelines.

The health warning is the first California has issued on a candy since 2001, when consumers were cautioned about a lollipop made of fig-like tamarind discovered in the Costa Mesa home of a child with lead poisoning.

Why would anybody want an apple pulp and chilli pepper candy bar, haven't they heard of a Reese's Cup?

The longest-running science fiction series: decadent, degenerate and rotten to the core. Power-mad conspirators, Daleks, Sontarans... Cybermen! They're still in the nursery compared to us. Fifty years of absolute fandom. That's what it takes to be really critical.

"Don't mistake a few fans bitching on the Internet for any kind of trend." - Keith R.A. DeCandido

Knowing that chili powder is effective in small doses, I'd worry about something that's primarily or secondarily made out of it instead of just spiced with it... it seems like that would cause some "medical side effects" with a quicker onset than lead poisoning usually has.

The longest-running science fiction series: decadent, degenerate and rotten to the core. Power-mad conspirators, Daleks, Sontarans... Cybermen! They're still in the nursery compared to us. Fifty years of absolute fandom. That's what it takes to be really critical.

"Don't mistake a few fans bitching on the Internet for any kind of trend." - Keith R.A. DeCandido

Hawk, you just made me want to use an animated smiley with something flying right over the little dude's head.

We have one of those? Neat.

Powersauce bars. They're not really "harnessing the power of apples". They're made mostly of old Chinese newspapers. I can't help it if I remember obscure references and throwaway lines from Simpsons episodes on demand....

“Now is the hour, Riders of Rohan, oaths you have taken! Now, fulfil them all! To lord and land!” ~ Eomer, LotR:RotK